German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence in parliament on Monday that would set off early elections scheduled for February 23.
The embattled Chancellor, whose three-party coalition collapsed in November this year, decided that calling the vote was his best shot at reviving his party's flagging political fortunes.
Scholz, who heads a minority government, said the snap elections would empower voters to "decide on the political direction of our country," calling the upcoming polls a moment of truth for Germany's future.
He had summoned the vote precisely to lose it and urged the Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament, to declare its lack of confidence in him so that the first formal step could be taken towards triggering new elections.
Scholz will now make a request to the President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier to dissolve Parliament and formally summon the new elections that have been in the pipeline for February 23 and have to take place within 60 days.
This beleaguered chancellor wanted 367 votes of no confidence on Monday to meet his objective, and after all, 394 lawmakers obliged him. There were 207 yes votes and 116 abstentions.
Bild tabloid described his strategy as the "kamikaze" move to dissolve parliament and demand elections. The mechanism was rare, and German chancellors had utilized it only five times since World War II, forcing electoral deadlocks.
"My plan is to advance the election of the federal level,"
Scholz told an almost fully packed parliament house in a powerful speech:.
"This is about having trust in our country and not putting our future at risk."
Scholz said his aim was to shore up confidence in the future of the country, insisting: "Germany's best days lie ahead of us."
Scholz's three-way "traffic light" coalition collapsed in November after the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) quit in protest over the Chancellor's sacking of the Finance Minister, Christian Lindner, over deep disagreements around debt management.
The move left Germany with a minority government of Scholz's Social Democrats (SDP) and Greens at a time of deep economic crisis and geopolitical uncertainty.
Scholz is to remain in place as head of the government until a new administration is formed.
He used his half-hour address in Parliament to defend his decision to push for early elections, arguing that disunity in the government could be tolerated no longer.
"Politics is not a game," he said, harshly critical of the FDP's behavior amid accusations it had plotted the government's collapse.
"I deeply regret this damage," Scholz said.
Friedrich Merz, the head of the opposition conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who is poised to succeed Scholz as Chancellor, spoke fervently about the election being a chance to vote against the government and "a day of relief".
Germany, he said, faced a tough period if it wanted to overcome its extensive economic challenges. Germans would need to work harder, he said, as he promised fiscal rewards for those who decided to put off retirement to participate in what he called a necessary "massive national exertion drive".
The election campaign unofficially kicked off ahead of the vote. Politicians of all parties have been battling to lure voters who are disgruntled over the cost of living crisis and stagnation over Ukraine.
In recent days there has also been a debate over whether Syrians who came to Germany as refugees to escape the war should now be urged to return since the fall of the Assad regime. There have been calls from the conservative opposition as well as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) for a radical rethink on asylum policy towards Syrians.
Alice Weidel, head of the AfD, took this opportunity to attack the outgoing coalition for what she branded a "failed migration policy," asking for the "immediate return" of Syrian refugees and described them as "Islamist terrorists".
While in caretaker, Scholz faces intense pressure to win opposition backing for several measures prepared by his government that it calls urgent for progress in the biggest economy in Europe.
This is all against the backdrop of the inauguration next month of the US President-elect, Donald Trump, and all the uncertainties with which the new administration might present Germany, including hefty trade tariffs and a review of military aid to Ukraine.
Measures to curb inflation - from shifting workers into higher tax brackets to subsidizing high energy prices that are now retarding industrial growth - are least likely to be addressed in a timely manner, legislators admitted yesterday.
Due to Germany's history of unstable, fleeting administrations that contributed considerably to the Nazis' coming to power almost a century ago, checks and balances are now in place to ensure new elections cannot be called without considerable care and deliberation.
Before the vote, Steinmeier, whose post is largely ceremonial, said: "I hope we will follow tradition and have a stable government within a reasonable time frame."
The CDU/CSU opposition, visibly self-assured amid expectations that it will win the next election under its investment banker leader Merz, has said it is prepared to back only the most urgent of measures.
Reluctant to be seen as supporting the remnants of the Scholz administration, the Conservatives have said they would be willing to back plans for enhanced protections of the constitutional court against the machinations of any future populist government. At the same time, they've said they would extend for another year a hugely successful subsidised transport pass-the future of which had been in doubt following the death of the government.
The governing Social Democrats have also pressed the Conservatives to support other policies as expectations are high that Germany will be in for a protracted period of political limbo following the election, when horsetrading between potential new government partners is likely to take weeks or months.
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